Balance is needed when discussing academic careers

It’s no secret that an academic career has many challenges; short-term contracts, low pay, long hours — as well the uncertain, exploratory nature of science itself. These challenges don’t go away with tenure: academic time is getting increasingly proscribed, funding is reducing, more is expected from less, management is becoming more remote. As a principal investigator (PI), I am constantly juggling tasks and hopping from one uncertainty to the next: yes, I have a job, but I still need to find money to pursue my research and develop the careers of my team.

As with most academics, I have considered quitting. The three times that I came closest were six months into my doctorate, when absolutely nothing was working; writing up my PhD thesis, which drove me to despair; and the first big grant rejection early in my PI position. I still wonder about alternative career paths. I’ve worked in academia my whole adult life (with a period in the army reserves). The little voice suggesting something better definitely gets louder when I am weighed down with admin or stresses about how to keep the laboratory going.

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The structural challenges in academia are not going away soon. In the United Kingdom, where I work, an increased workload, reduced pensions and the destabilization of long-term positions are making academia as a career increasingly unattractive. Recent survey data paints a picture of many, many mid-career scientists who are extremely dissatisfied with their career opportunities. Data from Advance HE, a charity based at the University of York, UK, that champions improvements in higher education, suggest a slight decline in postdoc numbers between 2019 and 2021. The net impression is that early-career scientists are being deterred from entering academic careers.

Culture of deterrence

This drift from basic science begins before students even go to university. There is a lack of understanding in schools as to what scientific careers involve. I did a science degree only because that was what I was best at, and I did a PhD because I didn’t really know what to do with my life after my degree.

To improve understanding of careers in science, increasing numbers of academics are doing outreach programmes in schools to describe the opportunities available, and the ways in. But in my experience, enthusiastic secondary-school biologists are more interested in careers in medicine than in biological research. I can see their reasoning. A career in medicine, as a doctor or a surgeon, has a structure and a job plan — and there’s often more transparency about salaries. Such a career is likely to be more attractive than one as a ‘scientist’, which — let’s face it — is a pretty nebulous title, even to those of us who are doing science as a career. Of course, being a ‘scientist’ is not the same as being an ‘academic’. Most science postgraduates aren’t employed at universities; academia is an alternative career.

Accentuate the positive

That all said, focusing solely on the negative is, I think, problematic, especially when people are discouraged from trying an academic career at all. We need to celebrate the good parts. And, by that, I mean not just successes in terms of papers or grants, but celebrating where academia brings us joy — an experiment that surprisingly worked, a colleague who helped you, a student who got you to look at a problem in a different light, a trainee who flourished.

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And there are many good bits to academia. For me, it’s the science, the freedom and the people. And by freedom, I don’t just mean the freedom to research what you want, but also the freedom to choose how you spend your time — be that teaching, researching or writing a book.

These good bits come with a cost, but, in the end, nothing of value ever came easy. Academia is hard — there are no two ways around that — but so is working for a biotechnology firm, or a charity, or a school, or a hospital, or a publishing house. Jobs outside academia come with their own list of challenges. These might be softened with increased pay, but, with that, might come demands for even further sacrifices of time, or effort or freedom.

Know your options

It comes down to making choices. And to make those choices, you need the best, most accurate information. For this, I would recommend applying the same scientific method that you might use in the day-to-day workings of your career.

1. Collect data. You don’t have to love all of the job; I think we all need to make a judgement call. Are we happier more days than not, and do the rewards offset the costs? Try doing this systematically: dedicate a period of time to reflecting on what you do and do not like. Or, more simply, just write down a score at the end of each day.

2. Expand the sample size. Who do you listen to? Social media is notoriously self-repeating, so it might be that you are missing other voices and other opinions: burst your bubble. Talk to others in your department at seminars, or outside it at meetings. Ask them about both the good and the bad aspects of their jobs.

3. Experiment. Various schemes can support a shorter (or longer) placement with another organization. These might give you a chance to see whether the grass really is greener. For more dyed-in-the-wool academics, sabbaticals can perform the same role.

For those of us who are more established, both sides of the argument need to be presented if we are to enable others to make those choices. Apart from those who teach in schools, the scientists who are the most visible to students and trainees are those in academia. These academics therefore have an influential voice — which should both bemoan the hard parts of their jobs, and celebrate the good. My constant moaning about paper portals needing fax numbers, and the committee I am on over-running, paints one side of the picture. I also need to tell my students about the things that bring me joy. As with most things, academia is a mixed bag, so let’s celebrate the positives in equal measure to bemoaning the negatives.